What Is a Pericarp? The Fruit Wall and Its Layers
A pericarp is the wall of a mature ovary. It forms most of the fruit you see around the seeds.
The short answer
Colorado State Extension says the pericarp is the ovary wall of a fruit. It can be fleshy as in apples or dry plus hard as in an acorn. The Southern Illinois lecture splits it into three layers: exocarp, mesocarp and endocarp. Orange peel plus pea pods come from the pericarp.
What is a pericarp?
The Tennessee Master Gardener chapter says the ovary holds the parts that turn into seeds after pollination. Fruits are ripened ovaries, per UW Botany. Colorado State says the pericarp is the ovary wall. The Southern Illinois lecture says the fruit wall may also include tissue from outside the carpel.
| Option | What it does | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Ovary | Becomes the fruit | Fruits (Botany 130) |
| Ovary wall | The pericarp | Botany (CMG GardenNotes 120) |
| Seeds | Form inside | Chapter 3: basic botany |
What are the three layers of the pericarp?
The Southern Illinois lecture lists the exocarp as the outer cell layers. The mesocarp is the often fleshy inner layers. The endocarp is the innermost layers. UW Botany says drupes have a fleshy outer part plus a stony inner part.
Exocarp: outer layers. Mesocarp: often fleshy. Endocarp: innermost layers.
How does the pericarp differ between fruits?
Colorado State says the pericarp may be fleshy or dry plus hard. Berries are fleshy throughout, UW Botany says. In pomes like apple the flesh mostly comes from tissue around the ovary. In grains the carpel hardens into a layer fused to the seed coat.
Berry: fleshy throughout. Drupe: stony inner part. Grain: fused to seed coat.
Troubleshooting
Fruit or seed? Sunflower seeds plus strawberry seeds are fruits per the Southern Illinois lecture.
Peel or pericarp? Orange peel comes from the pericarp per Colorado State.
Apple flesh? Mostly tissue around the ovary per UW Botany.
Kind Seed Co shares these plant notes for growers of all kinds. For more on plant parts see cannabis leaf anatomy and companion plants when growing marijuana. Read what roles bees play in outdoor cannabis for pollination. See growing cannabis near trees for site notes.
Sources
- Botany (CMG GardenNotes 120), Colorado State University Extension
- Lecture 24: fruits (plant anatomy), Southern Illinois University
- Fruits (Botany 130), University of Wisconsin Botany
- Chapter 3: basic botany, plant physiology, and plant classification, University of Tennessee Master Gardener Program
FAQ
Is an orange peel part of the pericarp?
Yes. Colorado State Extension lists the peel of an orange as derived from the pericarp.
Is a peach pit part of the pericarp?
Yes. Colorado State lists the skin plus flesh and pit of a peach as derived from the pericarp.
Do dry fruits have a pericarp?
Yes. Colorado State says the pericarp may be dry plus hard as in an acorn.
Is a pea pod a pericarp?
Colorado State lists the pea pod as derived from the pericarp. The Southern Illinois lecture calls this legume a pod.
Is wheat bran part of the pericarp?
The Southern Illinois lecture says processed white flour has the pericarp removed and calls it bran.
